Henry Fielding Quotes

1707-1754, British Novelist, Dramatist
quotes
41
topics
12
Origin
What do these mean?
Topic
“Where the law ends tyranny begins.”
Law and Lawyers
“All nature wears one universal grin.”
VerifiedTom Thumb the Great (1730), Act I, sc. i · evidenceNature
“One fool at least in every married couple.”
VerifiedAmelia (1751), Book IX, ch. 4 · evidenceMarriage
“What's vice today may be virtue, tomorrow.”
Vice
“Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.”
VerifiedLove in Several Masques (1728), Act IV, sc. xi · evidenceGossip
“Conscience -- the only incorruptible thing about us.”
Conscience
“Money is the fruit of evil, as often as the root of it.”
VerifiedDon Quixote in England (1731), Act I, scene vi · evidenceMoney
“Neither great poverty nor great riches will hear reason.”
Reason
“When children are doing nothing, they are doing mischief.”
VerifiedThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749), Book XV, Ch. 2 · evidenceChildren
“We are as liable to be corrupted by books, as by companions.”
Books and Reading
“Public schools are the nurseries of all vice and immorality.”
VerifiedJoseph Andrews (1742), Book III, Ch. 5 · evidenceEducation
“Thwackum was for doing justice, and leaving mercy to Heaven.”
VerifiedThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749), Book III, Ch. 10 · evidencePunishment
“Worth begets in base minds, envy; in great souls, emulation.”
Worth
“If you make money your god, it will plague you like the devil.”
Money
“Without adversity a person hardly knows whether they are honest or not.”
Honesty
“It hath often been said that it is not death but dying that is terrible.”
Death and Dying
“Money will say more in one moment than the most eloquent lover can in years.”
Money
“Scarcely one person in a thousand is capable of tasting the happiness of others.”
Happiness
“It is not from nature, but from education and habits, that our wants are chiefly derived.”
Desire
“The prudence of the best heads is often defeated by the tenderness of the best of hearts.”
Prudence
“When I'm not thanked at all, I'm thanked enough, I've done my duty, and I've done no more.”
VerifiedTom Thumb the Great (1730), Act I, sc. iii · evidenceAppreciation
“Commend a fool for his wit, or a rogue for his honesty and he will receive you into his favor.”
Fools and Foolishness
“Some folks rail against other folks, because other folks have what some folks would be glad of.”
VerifiedJoseph Andrews (1742), Book IV, Ch. 6 · evidenceEnvy
“There is nothing a man of good sense dreads in a wife so much as her having more sense than himself.”
Common Sense
“Fashion is the science of appearance, and it inspires one with the desire to seem rather than to be.”
Fashion
“There is not in the universe a more ridiculous, nor a more contemptible animal, than a proud clergyman.”
VerifiedAmelia (1751), Book IX, Ch. 10 · evidenceChurches
“Dancing begets warmth, which is the parent of wantonness. It is, Sir, the great grandfather of cuckoldom.”
VerifiedLove in Several Masques (1728), Act III, sc. vii · evidenceDance and Dancing
“His designs were strictly honorable, as the phrase is; that is, to rob a lady of her fortune by way of marriage.”
VerifiedThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749), Book XI, Ch. 4 · evidenceIntentions